Our History

Over one hundred years ago, on August 16, 1912, Glenn L. Martin established the Glenn L. Martin Company in Los Angeles, California. He started the company after building his first plane in a rented church, where he took a leap of faith on his risky but innovative new aircraft design at the urging of none other than Orville Wright.

Four months later and four hundred miles away, on December 19, 1912, Allan and Malcolm Lockheed founded the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company, later renamed the Lockheed Aircraft Company. Talented mechanics, they set up shop out of a garage, constructing seaplanes that would shatter speed and distance records for overwater flights.

Accelerating Tomorrow

Take a journey looking back at the innovations and achievements that helped our customers rise to some of the world’s most vital challenges.

A church and a garage. These were humble beginnings. But these were also men of unrelenting vision and unwavering purpose. The gift that Martin and the Lockheed brothers shared was a unique ability to look past the obstacles of today to the promise of a brighter tomorrow. And they knew – as we’ve known for 100 years – that innovation, performance and purpose were the keys to accelerating that tomorrow.